The Christian's Serious, Satisfying, and Supernatural Obedience, Part 4

THE GOSPEL-SHAPED LIFE:

THE CHRISTIAN’S SERIOUS, SATISFYING, AND SUPERNATURAL OBEDIENCE

PART 4

An Exposition of Philippians 2:12-13 (Part 4)

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   July 8, 2018

Series: Philippians: Gospel Partnership on Mission in the World

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

It is impossible to live the Christian life in your own strength. Even if you are surrounded by strong influences outside of you, the weakness inside of you will leave you incapable, ineffective, and immature. Your weak inside needs profound help!

Let me mention four wonderful gifts that the Lord has graciously given to us, but which taken by themselves are inadequate to produce in us a godly life. First, the Lord has given us His perfect example of humble, obedient, and sacrificial servanthood. Second, the Lord has given us His faithful instruction, which teaches us how to follow Him and how to love our fellow Christians. Third, the Lord has given us His holy people: we are surrounded by brothers and sisters who encourage us and support us. Fourth, the Lord has given us His promise of future glory: one day, those who love Jesus are going to be wonderfully transformed by Jesus, and then we will share in His resurrection glory and experience the fullness of eternal life.

You might be tempted to think that these things are enough, so beware. If all you have is the Lord’s perfect example in front of you, and the Lord’s faithful instruction in your Bible, and the Lord’s holy people around you, and the Lord’s promise of the future glory, then you’re done for. You won’t make it out of the starting gate, let alone turn the first corner or finish the race. You might as well pack up your bags and return home.

You see, the Lord’s perfect example in front of you, the Lord’s faithful instruction in the Bible, the Lord’s holy people around you, and the Lord’s promise of the future glory as the great goal to strive after, are wonderful and transforming realities, but not by themselves. These things are necessary, but not sufficient to produce the gospel-shaped and glory-bound life. The reason these things are insufficient is because all of them are outside of you. And what you desperately need and absolutely must have, if you would walk this gospel-shaped and glory-bound path, is profound help on the inside. What good is a car without an engine, or a light bulb without electricity, or a smartphone without a battery? The thing needs to be powered! If it is not powered, it will not work: no movement, no light, no connection.

And if you are not powered, you will not work! If you are not spiritually powered, you will not grow in your walk with the Lord. If you are not inwardly propelled, you will not make progress on the path of obedience. Take note: God did not design you to be self-powered and self-propelled! You will either be powered and propelled by God along the path that leads to final glory, or you will be powered and propelled by self, sin, and Satan along the path that leads to final destruction.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Listen to what God tells us in Philippians 2:12-13. Holy Scripture says:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTION OR HOLY SPIRIT PRODUCTION?

God’s transforming work in us is the decisive factor that enables us to follow Jesus on the path of humble obedience that leads to final glory. If we would worship the triune God with all our heart, and cherish the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and advance our Lord’s evangelistic mission, and build up our church family, and love each other in profoundly helpful ways, then the Holy Spirit must be purifying us and powering us to do these things. Whenever you get a group of professing Christians together that seeks to do these things on their own (and this happens far too often), the result is a counterfeit production: worship becomes either entertainment or empty ritual, the gospel becomes a morality tale, the evangelistic mission becomes packaged programs or social services, building up the church turns into a physical and financial enterprise, and love becomes superficial and sentimental.

Therefore, in the interests of not becoming a counterfeit production, and in the interests of not becoming a group self-production, we must live within the transformative reality of Philippians 2:13. Then we will be a Holy Spirit production, a true “city set on a hill” (Mathew 5:14), a true fellowship of saints who are on pilgrimage to our heavenly homeland.  

My purpose in this sermon is to look carefully at the reality set forth in verse 13, and its relation to verse 12.

GOD’S TRANSFORMING POWER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

But first, let’s consider God’s transforming power that is at work in the conversion of sinners. Each and every one of us is born a sinner. Being a sinner doesn’t mean that we are basically good people who, unfortunately and inexplicably, occasionally slip up. Being a sinner actually means that the fundamental nature, disposition, and direction of our hearts is away from God. It means that our desires are corrupt at the deepest level of our soul.

We make a serious error when we choose to define sin mainly in terms of moral conduct. Moral conduct is not the main issue when it comes to sin. The main issue is your heart toward God and God’s Word.

What is the greatest commandment in all of Scripture? “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Or to put it another way: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Or: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Or: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” (Philippians 4:4) Humanity’s most basic problem is not immorality and injustice. Instead, our most basic problem is that we are not loving, worshiping, seeking after, and rejoicing in the God of infinite glory, the God of moral purity, the God of perfect righteousness.

This world is full of people who are morally respectable in their social relations: they love their family and friends, they are kind to their neighbors, they are good workers, they pay their taxes, and they are pleasant to be around. But here’s the thing we all need to understand: morally decent sinners and morally indecent sinners are equally corrupt – equally ungodly – at the deepest level of their hearts. They are all guilty of high treason against the King of heaven: they do not love Him, do not live for His glory, do not pursue His kingdom agenda, and do not rejoice in His loveliness and majesty. Which means that they are failing miserably when it comes to the most basic reason for their existence: to live in fellowship with God, and to reflect His character and purpose in all that they are and do. As Scripture says:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12)

If that seems harsh, then you probably don’t appreciate how serious it is to break the greatest commandment. The command to love God is the first commandment not in the sense that it is the first of a thousand disconnected commands – such that, if you have managed to obey commands 2–1,000, you come off looking fairly good. The command to love God is the first commandment in such a way that it shapes the way that you obey all of the other commands. For example: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) Love one another, take care of your family, serve your neighbors, be generous to the poor, be a good worker – do these things as a humble representative of Jesus, and with much thankfulness to God the Father. True obedience is joyfully loving God, and joyfully carrying out all of the other commands precisely because you do love God and desire that His name be honored, His kingdom come, and His will be done (see Matthew 6:9-10).

The question is: how can sinners who don’t love God get transformed into people who do love God? There is one answer and one answer only: by God’s transforming power that He bestows in the miracle of regeneration.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Sinners are “dead in [their] trespasses.” The thing about being dead is that it is impossible to do anything about it. “But God”! “[When] we were dead in our trespasses, [He] made us alive.” He did the work of re-creating and regenerating us: now we breathe the refreshing air of God’s kingdom, now we see its wonders and riches, now we live in fellowship with God, now we have the disposition and capacity to perform “good works,” to do those things that are truly good in God’s sight, and to do them with the right attitudes and for the right reasons. And it’s all gift! The Father’s rich mercy, great love, incomparable grace, and transforming power un-do and destroy the devil’s work: “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” powers and propels unbelievers on the path of disobedience that leads to destruction, but God’s gracious work sets His people free from the devil’s work and sets them on the path of righteousness (Ephesians 4:24, Psalm 23:3), love (Ephesians 5:1-2), and good works (Ephesians 2:10). You must first be made alive and converted in the depths of your soul, before you can actually live in accordance with Philippians 2:12-13.

JESUS LAID DOWN HIS LIFE SO THAT YOU WOULD BE TRANSFORMED

And remember this: Jesus laid down His life for us so that we would live in the blessedness of Philippians 2:12-13. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2) “[Our] great God and Savior Jesus Christ… gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:13-14) Forgiveness of sin (Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation with the Father (Romans 5:10), the gift of the indwelling and empowering Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, Titus 3:4-7), and a transformed life characterized by obedience, righteousness, and zeal for good works (1 Peter 2:24, Titus 2:13-14), are all part of the great salvation that flows like a mighty river from the cross of Jesus to all the saints of God. Come to Jesus, trust Him, and enter into this eternal salvation.   

GOD’S TRANSFORMING POWER THROUGHOUT YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE

So as we come to Philippians 2:13, we need to appreciate the fact that God’s powerful transforming work in the hearts of His people is not only something that He does at our initial conversion when the decisive turnaround takes place, but also something that He continues to do throughout the entirety of our Christian life. Listen carefully: Some people may think that God’s work is to redeem you, but after He redeems you it’s up to you to live it out with gratitude for His redeeming you in the first place. In this scheme, redemption is God’s gracious gift to you, and the subsequent Christian life is your gift to God. But that is wrong big time! As Philippians makes so clear, God begins the good work of saving His people (Philippians 1:6), and thereafter He continues the good work of transforming His people (Philippians 2:13) so that they follow Jesus all the way to final glory. Your Christian life is God’s gift to you!  

In contrast to “the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2), Philippians 2:13 teaches us that another spirit, namely, the Holy Spirit, is now at work in the sons of obedience. The unholy spirit powers and propels unbelievers on the path of disobedience, whereas the Holy Spirit powers and propels believers on the path of obedience.

A CLOSE LOOK AT THROUGH PHILIPPIANS 2:13

Let’s look carefully at the words in Philippians 2:13.

First, God works in His people: “for it is God who works in you.” By means of the Holy Spirit, God is present with His people and at work in them. Scripture describes a number of ways in which God is at work in the lives of His people: He supplies grace and peace and all that we need (Philippians 1:2, 4:19), He teaches us (Philippians 3:15) He guards our hearts (Philippians 4:7), He strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), He comforts us (2 Corinthians 1:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:17), He “[establishes our hearts] in every good work and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:17), and much more. A true and healthy church is not a social grouping in the same way that a baseball team or chess club or historical society or library association is a social grouping. A true and healthy church is not ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people.’ A true and healthy church, rather, is nothing less than the fellowship of the Holy Trinity. God calls us into His fellowship; we gather together in His Name; and we endeavor to carry out His mission. A local church is one little outpost, one little representation, of the eternal fellowship that God has with His people. And be sure of this: wherever God establishes an outpost of His forever fellowship – wherever He begins a good work in the conversion of sinners and establishing of a congregation – there He is, with His people. God dwells among His people (1 Corinthians 3:16) and His Holy Spirit indwells each believer (1 Corinthians 6:19), in order to be for them all that He has promised to be and to do for them all that He has promised to do. God works for and in His people!

Of course, Paul’s point in Philippians 2:13 is not given to us in general terms, but is very specific in its intent. After telling us that “it is God who works in you,” Paul immediately clarifies the specific work that he has in mind. So the second point of consideration is this: God works in His people to transform their desires and energize their deeds: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work.”

The first reference is to the will. In this instance, the will is a reference to the desire, the disposition, the inclination of our hearts. The issue has to do with what we want to do. As I read earlier from Ephesians 2, when we were unconverted we “lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” (Ephesians 2:3). When a person is born again, his or her former enslavement to sinful desires is fundamentally reversed: now the man or woman who is born again desires to walk with God. However, in the wisdom of God, He decided that there should be a lifetime of growth between our initial conversion and our final perfection. God puts His people on a journey that begins with initial conversion, then proceeds forward through a lifetime of growth in holy character and conduct, and finally culminates in resurrection glory. This growth happens most fundamentally in the depths of our heart. Romans 12:2 calls us to “be transformed by the renewal of our mind” and 2 Corinthians says that “our inner nature is being renewed day by day” and Colossians 3:5 commands us to “[put] to death” the sinful desires that surface in our hearts. What is envisioned here is renewal, transformation, and internal growth in holiness. The point of Philippians 2:13 – that God works in us “to will… for his good pleasure” – is that He actively works to renew our hearts and transform our desires. In other words, He develops within each believer a heart for God, a desire for holiness, a disposition to walk in obedience, and a hunger to follow Jesus on the path that leads to glory.

It is possible, however, to have a strong desire coupled with weak ability. Someone might have a strong desire to run the Boston Marathon, but lack the strength and steadfastness to do so. In order for the strong desire to be effectual and productive, the strong desire must be backed by a power to do.

And so it is that God works in us not only “to will” but also “to work.” In terms of our willing, underneath our willing it is God who sanctifies our desires, which results in an increasingly purified will. With a purified will, we want to follow the Lord. Then in terms of our working, underneath our working it is God who supplies us with strength, which results in increasingly productive work. God actually strengthens us! The point here is not that God equips us with gifts, skills, and wisdom – God does these things, of course, but this isn’t the point here. In Philippians 2:13, God working in us “to work” means that He strengthens our inner being so that we will actually do the work of obedience, that we will actually do the work of “straining forward” (Philippians 3:13) and “[pressing] on toward the [final] goal” (Philippians 3:14) of our salvation, that we will actually do the work of pursuing holiness and walking in love. God develops within us holy determination, spiritual muscle, unyielding resolve, persevering zeal, and with this inner strength we press through to the action, we do the thing that we must do, we take the next step, we keep on moving forward “toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

Here again, the apostle Paul is a wonderful example of what he taught us. Listen to these two statements he made elsewhere:

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:28-29)

In the 1 Corinthians passage, God’s grace was with Paul in such a way that God’s grace did the heavy lifting and actually enabled Paul to work hard at gospel ministry. Paul’s hard work was not powered or produced by himself, but was powered and produced by God’s grace. In the Colossians passage, Christ was “powerfully [working]” His supernatural energy into the insides of Paul. Christ’s energy was the engine of Paul’s labor. Never mind all the afflictions and persecutions that Paul faced along the way! Paul kept on going, kept on preaching, kept on teaching, kept on praying, kept on writing, kept on equipping younger leaders, kept on strengthening the churches, even amid opposition and suffering – because Christ empowered Him to do it.

We must understand that this empowerment is not like someone cheering you on from the sidelines, this empowerment is not like someone inspiring you by their own example, this empowerment is not like someone giving you a ‘good talking to’. The Lord’s empowerment of His people is not the empowerment of external influence. External influences can be good things, of course, but that’s what we’re talking about here. Here we are not talking about external influences but internal furnishings. This divine empowerment is the living Lord, by His Spirit, working in you on the inside: breathing life into your soul, breathing courage into your heart, breathing determination into your spirit, breathing tenacity into your mind and toughness into your bones. Therefore, you go and do, you love and serve, you pursue and press on and persevere on the path of obedience that leads to final glory.

So, God works in His people in order to transform them into rightly desiring doers who thereby live in a manner that is pleasing to God. This is the third point of consideration: God transforms us so that we will be pleasing in His sight: “[It] is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” What is the Father’s good pleasure? All that is involved in the path of obedience that leads to final glory is very pleasing to Him. It brings Him much pleasure that you, the son or daughter that He has redeemed, would gladly follow Jesus; that you would gladly serve your Christian brothers and sisters (Philippians 2:4); that you would be unified with your fellow believers as you work together to build up His church (Philippians 1:27, 2:2); and that you would be His faithful and holy representative in “a crooked and twisted” world (Philippians 2:15). The Holy Spirit works in you: He sanctifies your desires and supplies you with power to do, so that you truly desire to do and then actually carry out what He desires you to do, even that which is pleasing in His sight. So, God’s powerful transforming grace in us makes us into holy desirers and effectual doers. Where this holy desiring and effectual doing is consistently absent, the proper biblical conclusion is that in such a case God’s powerful transforming grace is also absent, which means that the person in question needs to get converted.

GOD MAKES HIS PEOPLE’S OBEDIENCE ACTUAL

Note well that God’s work in His people does not make their obedience merely possible, as if God’s work puts us on neutral ground and now we have to decide what we are going to do. The point of verse 13 is that God’s work in His people makes their obedience actual. As God purifies the man or woman “to will” and desire those things that are pleasing to God, the man or woman actually wills to follow Jesus in those specific ways. And as God powers the man or woman “to work” and do those things that the purified heart now desires to do, the man or woman actually does them. God brings about our increasing obedience as His Holy Spirit works within us.

GOD’S SOVEREIGN WORK AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OBEY

At this point someone might wonder how God’s sovereign work in bringing about the obedience of His people relates to our human responsibility to walk in obedience. Since our obedience (in verse 12) is fundamentally the product of His work (as verse 13 so clearly tells us), and if His work is so effective as to make our obedience actual, then what is our role in obedience. This is one of those questions that tempts us to go hither and yon in search of a supposed answer, when the most important answer is right in front of us. Philippians 2:12-13 tell us that we ought to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” because God is working in us: “for it is God who works in you.” As Don Carson puts it,

“God himself is working in us… at the level of our wills and at the level of our doing. But far from this being a disincentive to press on, Paul insists that this is an incentive. Assured as we are that God works in this way in his people, we should be all the more strongly resolved to will and to act in ways that please our Master.”[1]

If God is thus at work in you, and you believe that He is doing so, then you ought to be eager to demonstrate the reality of His working by eagerly doing what He is working in you to do: Flee the corruptions of the world! Strive for holiness! Run the race! Make every effort to grow! Be diligent in the things of God! Train yourself for godliness! Kill your sin! Pursue righteousness! Love one another! Work together to advance God’s kingdom! Be at peace among yourselves! Strain forward! Fight the good fight! Don’t give up! Do all these things, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

GOD WORKS IN US THROUGH HIS WORD

Before I leave us with a word of application, I want to clear up a possible misconception that stems from my introduction. When I introduced the sermon, I said that the Lord’s perfect example and His faithful instruction and His holy people and His promise of future glory aren’t enough to produce godliness and holiness and obedience in our lives. I said we needed something more, namely, God’s powerful transforming grace in our heart and inner being. Now someone might conclude that if God’s powerful transforming grace is at work within us, then the other things – the example, the instruction, the church family, the promise of glory – are unnecessary. But that would represent a complete misunderstanding of how God actually works in His people. God works in His people as they behold the example of the Lord in the gospel, God works in His people as they listen to the Bible’s instructions and promises, God works in His people as His people minister His Word to one another. Therefore, do not think that this Spirit-generated transformation described in Philippians 2:13 happens apart from the Word. It doesn’t.

The Holy Spirit works in us in conjunction with God’s Word. The written Word by itself, without the inward work of the Holy Spirit, will prove unprofitable to us. However, God’s design for His people is that they be transformed by His Word as the Holy Spirit takes that Word and applies it to our hearts, gives us understanding, renews our minds, and empowers us to lay hold of it and then put it into practice. So, Paul tells the Thessalonians that “the word of God… is at work in you believers.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Elsewhere he wrote that “the word of the cross… is the power of God [to us who are being saved]” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Going back to the Psalms, we are told that God’s Word revives the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eyes, and satisfies the inner person (see Psalm 19:7-10). Whether preaching and teaching within the church family, or small group Bible Studies, or family devotions, or personal Bible reading, or mutual encouragement among brothers and sisters, the Word of God is essential to our transformation, as the Holy Spirit takes that Word deep into our hearts and transforms us from the inside out. Love the Bible! And love the Bible’s Author, namely, the Holy Spirit, who makes the Bible come alive with transforming power in the hearts of His people. By the Spirit of God and the Word of God, we grow into mature followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and bear fruit that honors our heavenly Father.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS SUPERNATURAL IN CHARACTER

In light of Philippians 2:12-13, I want us all to realize that a true and healthy Christian life is supernatural in character. The Christian life is purified by God, powered by God, propelled forward by God. If you take the Holy Spirit out of the equation, there is no Christian life. You may have some kind of moralistic religion, but there is no Christian life without the Holy Spirit’s work within you (e.g., see Romans 8:1-17, Ephesians 5:18-21). Do you think this way? Do you think about your own life this way? Do you think about other people’s lives this way? The single most significant factor in the quality and growth of a Christian’s obedience and sanctification is what God is doing inside of you. This truth is not meant to be assumed and then forgotten, but rather it is meant to be embraced and applied.

For starters, embracing the truth of Philippians 2:13 ought to make us exceedingly humble. I cannot continue forward on the path of obedience (Philippians 2:12), I cannot lay hold of the wonderful salvation that God has promised to His people – unless God does it! Even with the regenerating grace that came to me at my conversion, even with the renewing grace that has come to me in the years following my conversion, if God stopped working in me “to will and to work for his good pleasure,” that would be the end of my spiritual walk, that would be the end of my progress, that would be the end of any fruitful service. We desperately need the gracious work of God in our hearts today, and then tomorrow, and then again the next day, because without it we will dry up and wither away. This reality ought to be deeply humbling to us. I am not the sovereign master of my own desiring and willing. And I do not have sufficient strength so as to ensure the effective doing of any good desires that I might have. Over and over again, God permits us to feel and experience the waywardness of our desires, and the weakness of our self, so that we will realize how futile it is to attempt a godly life without His supernatural empowerment. God alone is sovereign over the desires of my heart, and God alone is all-powerful to grant me the power to do.

If we are duly humbled by Philippians 2:13, then we ought to proceed to pray diligently for His ongoing work in our life. Many prayers in Scripture operate on the assumption that God must work, and does work, in the hearts of His people. Do you realize this? Consider these prayers from the Psalms:

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18)

“Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.” (Psalm 119:27)

“My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.” (Psalm 119:28)

“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain.” (Psalm 119:36)

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things, and give me life in your ways.” (Psalm 119:37)

“Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.” (Psalm 119:133)   

“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)

In the New Testament, Paul prays that God would “grant [His people] to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in [our] inner being, so that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:16-17) Having a close relationship with Jesus and knowing the depths of His love, is dependent on the Father’s ongoing work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Thus Paul tells the Thessalonians, “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5) As a preacher of the gospel or simply as your brother in Christ, I could tell you about “the love of God” and “the steadfastness of Christ” all sermon long, all day long, all week long, but unless the Lord directs our hearts to these realities, I will be a shallow speaker and you will be a shallow listener.

When Paul prays for the Philippians “that [their] love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that [they] may approve what is excellent” (Philippians 1:9-10), what is Paul’s expectation? Paul’s expectation is that God will answer the prayer by working in their hearts so that they actually grow in their desire and demonstration of biblical, godly, and morally discerning love for one another. God causes His people to grow in love! 

South Paris Baptist Church, what will we be? Will we be a counterfeit production that attempts to live the Christian life on our own, without God’s transforming grace within our hearts? Will we be a group self-production that makes a great show of religiosity but doesn’t have the power of true godliness (2 Timothy 3:5)? Or will we be swept up into God’s purpose and power, and will we be a faithful people whose faithfulness, holiness, and love is made deep and real and visible because God is at work in us. O Church, let us be a Holy Spirit production, eager to do all that He is purifying and powering us to do!

Let us pray.

ENDNOTES

[1] Carson, D. A. Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996: p. 62.